A Shire Yule Songbook
by dreamflower02
Summary: Over the years I have written a number of "Yule carols" that hobbits like to sing in the Shire over the festive season. I hope to share these with you in the days leading up to the holidays! I hope it will get you into the holiday spirit!
1. No Shorter Now Will Grow the Days

(This first song traditionally is sung at Brandy Hall after the Feast of First Yule, though it is known in other parts of the Shire as well.)

**BUCKLAND YULETIDE ("NO SHORTER NOW WILL GROW THE DAYS")**

No shorter now will grow the days-  
May the Yule log brightly blaze!

Fill the Hall with pine and holly-  
Let us all be bright and jolly!

To the New Year let us raise  
Songs of joy and songs of praise!

Though the nights be cold and drear  
Within these walls, we're full of cheer!

Hearts and hands, we're all together,  
Heedless of the winter weather!

Our children all are snug and warm,  
Safe from want and safe from harm!

Let joy and laughter loudly ring  
To the roof-beams as we sing!

Ever longer grow the days-  
May the Yule log brightly blaze!

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I imagine this song as more or less scanning to the carol "Good Christian Men Rejoice".)


	2. It is the Turning of the Year

****(Another Shire Yule Carol, written in 2005, and first appearing in my story "Eucatastrophe: Yuletide in Minas Anor"; it has since appeared in other stories.)

**IT IS THE TURNING OF THE YEAR**

It is the turning of the year,  
In the mid-winter, bleak and blear-  
While the weather is dark and drear  
When we find joy and good cheer!  
For friends and kin from far and near  
Gather with all that they hold dear.  
Away with sorrow, away with fear:  
And with good song, good food, good beer,  
Welcome the turning of the year!

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I imagine this song as more or less scanning to "O Come, O Come Emanuel". ]


	3. The Tuckborough Carol

**Rating**: G  
**Summary:** A Yule carol popular in Tookland…

**LIGHT THE YULE LOG**  
**(THE TUCKBOROUGH CAROL)**

Light the Yule log, blazing cheer,  
Giving warmth this time of year.  
Turning back all thoughts of fear,  
As we hold close our loved ones dear!

The day is short; the night is long.  
Against the dark we sing this song-  
Let our hearts be filled with light  
And may the world again grow bright!

We put up many stores ahead  
Against the cold months left to tread.  
Shall we now have meat and bread?  
Our bodies and our hearts be fed!

The day is short; the night is long.  
Against the dark we sing this song-  
Let our hearts be filled with light  
And may the world again grow bright!

Though the world is dark and cold,  
While we have a hand to hold,  
And we are safe within the fold,  
Our spirits may be brave and bold!

The day is short; the night is long.  
Against the dark we sing this song-  
Let our hearts be filled with light  
And may the world again grow bright!

Light the Yule log, blazing cheer,  
Giving warmth this time of year.  
Turning back all thoughts of fear,  
As we hold close our loved ones dear!

(This song will scan to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing".)


	4. Come Now, Good Hobbits!

**Summary:** A Yuletide carol to see the Season out and the New Year in...and my wishes for all of you, my hobbity friends, for the coming year!

**"COME NOW, GOOD HOBBITS..."**

Come now, good hobbits, be of much cheer,  
And let's raise a toast to the coming New Year~  
May each day dawn bright and fair,  
Free from want and free from care!  
May the year be short on sorrow,  
And long on joy with each new morrow!  
May the Shire know peace and plenty,  
That no larder may go empty!  
And blessed be the earth we till,  
That each belly may have its fill!  
May the ties of family, too,  
Be strengthened by hearts warm and true!  
May each hobbit have a hand to hold,  
And love for all, both young and old!  
Let the halls with laughter ring,  
As to the New Year we gladly sing!

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: This sort of scans to the song the Whos in Whoville sing in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", although not too well. Feel free to use any tune you like with it)


	5. Yuletide Fun

This is a simple children's ditty that is often sung by very small children who are excited about the holiday. Think of it as the Shire version of "Jingle Bells", although that's not the tune I imagine for it. The last line is usually delivered in an enthusiastic shout. This song featured in my story "Yule at Great Smials".

**YULETIDE FUN**

Yuletide fun, Yuletide fun!  
Fun until the day is done!  
We will visit with our cousins!  
Cousins by the tens and dozens!  
Food and song,  
All day long!  
All day long!  
Food and song,  
All day long!


	6. The Year Has Turned (Sing Tarrilee)

(Written in 2008, I have no particular tune in mind, but I do think of it as a very upbeat song with a decided rhythm, especially in the chorus.)

**The Year Has Turned (Sing Tarrilee)**

The year has turned-what have we learned?  
Sing tarrilee! Sing tarrilee!  
To be content with hearth and hole.  
To freely give and not withhold.  
To find the joy in every day.  
To do our best in work and play.  
To love our family and our friends.  
To be ready for all that now begins.

Out with the old, old, old!  
In with the new, new, new!  
Sing tarrilee-tarrilee-roo-too-roo  
Though it is cold, cold, cold,  
The old year is through, through, through!  
Sing tarrilee-tarrilee-roo-too-roo!

The year is new-what shall we do?  
Sing tarrilee! Sing tarrilee!  
We shall learn to be happier still.  
We'll meet new friends with all goodwill.  
We'll keep hearts lighter in weal or woe.  
We'll find new tasks to learn and know.  
And when this new year is done,  
We'll know we finished what we'd begun!

Out with the old, old, old!  
In with the new, new, new!  
Sing tarrilee-tarrilee-roo-too-roo  
Though it is cold, cold, cold,  
The old year is through, through, through!  
Sing tarrilee-tarrilee-roo-too-roo!


	7. To Wait for Sun's Returning

(This song was written as a part of my 2008 Yule Fic Exchange story of the same title. The story was for Cathleen, who requested a Quest fic set during the Yule that the Fellowship were on the road. Think of the tune as slow and slightly wistful. I have since used it in a couple of other Yule stories.)

**TO WAIT FOR SUN'S RETURNING**

When night is longest,  
When dark is strongest  
We set candles burning  
To wait for Sun's returning.  
To hope and home and hearth we hold,  
Shutting out the dreary cold.  
At this time when year has turned,  
We think of all we've done and learned,  
And look unto the coming days.  
A song of light and hope we raise:  
No night is so long,  
No dark is so strong,  
To dim the light of Stars above,  
Or overcome the might of love.


	8. Yuletide in the Shirelands

(**Author's Notes**: This is a filk, based on the song "Christmas in Killarney", written by John Redmond, James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon in 1950, and made popular by Bing Crosby. I woke up in the night with the song as an earworm, and realized that the main phrase in the chorus scanned to "Yuletide in the Shire-lands". Everything comes back to hobbits in the end. Written in December 2010.)

**Summary**: A Shire Yuletide song of the early Fourth Age, made popular by Thain Peregrin I. The words are said to have been written by Meriadoc the Magnificent, Master of Buckland.

**Yuletide in the Shire-lands**

The holly green, the ivy green,  
The prettiest picture you've ever seen  
is Yuletide in the Shire-lands,  
With all of the folks at home!

Brush up your toes, put on warm clothes,  
We'll gather the pine-boughs and mistletoe!  
The smell of baking, you know of course,  
Will guide us all back home!

The door is always open, the neighbours pay a call  
For friendship's sake we'll have some cake,  
And a toast to one and all.

Our hearts are light, our spirits bright,  
We'll celebrate our joy tonight  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands,  
With all of the folks at home!

The holly green, the ivy green,  
The prettiest picture you've ever seen  
from Westmarch to the Outlands,  
no matter where you roam  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands  
With all of the folks at home!

We'll hang the wreaths and garlands while all the Family's here  
Around a roaring Yule-log fire,  
We'll raise a cup of cheer!

There's gifts to bring and songs to sing,  
And laughs to make the rafters ring  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands  
With all of the folks at home.

The holly green, the ivy green,  
The prettiest picture you've ever seen  
from Westmarch to the Outlands,  
no matter where you roam  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands  
With all of the folks at home!

The children run and play, and hope to see some snow!  
We listen to their happy yells  
And laughter as we go!

How grand it feels to click your heels,  
And dance away to the jigs and reels.  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands  
With all of the folks at home.

The holly green, the ivy green,  
The prettiest picture you've ever seen  
from Westmarch to the Outlands,  
no matter where you roam  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands  
With all of the folks at home!  
It's Yuletide in the Shire-lands  
With all of the folks at home!


End file.
